-!!In preparation for Fishing Level 55 !!-

Two key points arise as to why I recommend a gear update: 1) Blue Scrips can start as early as now, and 2) SPEEDS UP the process by a whole lot. This is TRIPLE VALUE if you ever plan to level up your Miner or Botanist.

55+ Fishing Weapon reference: (55) 55Rod, (57) 57Rod. Both are WORTH IT TO BUY when you hit 55 and 57 respectively.

You DO NOT NEED TO UPGRADE FURTHER. The 58 upgrade tier sucks compared to the investment – they cost blue scrips! the HQ 55 Set will easily last you to 60 and BEYOND. And when you’re done with all 3 DoL – converting these will yield a sure Grade IV DoL Materia!

Buoyant Oviform (x?) : ALL FROM SAME FISHING SPOT : (more info!)Notes: The only reason there’s a triple recommendation here is because they’re fished up from the same hole.

Blue Cloud Coral (x3)(x9)(Repeatable) : ALL FROM SAME FISHING SPOT : (more info!)Notes: The only reason there’s a triple recommendation here is because they’re fished up from the same hole.

Mahu Wai (x?) : ALL FROM SAME FISHING SPOT : (more info!)Notes: The only reason there’s a triple recommendation here is because they’re fished up from the same hole.

The fishing hole in question is Cloudtop, Sea of Cloud (15,38), to farm up all three. (Bait: Red Balloon)

What I did in this tier (54):

This tier is great. There’s many options to choose from, and you’re not really sad as to which collectible you get. Let’s talk about the various ways.

Levequest Fishing in the 54 tier is value: You get all three of the Levequest Fish in one fishing hole. This is great! This also means that these fish will always have a price tag on it! Blue Cloud Coral is also an important crafting material so there’s quite a bit of value if you go this route!

Bubble Eye: Is pretty decent. You fish them up in Sea of Clouds, (28,34) Voor Sian Siran, you also get a ton of Cloudfish here, which is a repeatable levequest fish from the previous (52) tier! So each time the window is up you should get your butt over here.

Dravanian Squeaker: Is also good! You can ONLY CATCH THIS OR CLOUDFISH in this hole at this level! As I mentioned earlier, Cloudfish is a repeatable levequest fish, so hunting these guys to extinction isn’t a bad deal.

Overall the process here is pretty straightforward, and should be a “priority based” scenario:

If timeframes are up – go and farm the collectible fish (Bubble Eye OR Dravanian Squeaker)

This was a painless tier, and you can easily succeed just following the simple guidelines above.

Alternative Grinding: Mogpom, fished from Greensward in Churning Mists – is a great fishing hole to grind on. Not only do mogpoms hold a bit of crafting material value, the fishing hole has 100% chance to catch this level 55 fish, meaning it’s a very stable choice for mindless grinding.

TLDR; Look at the little bullet points above, those actions can take you to 56 and a bit beyond. And the little note about Mogpoms. Seriously a GG EZ tier.

Pipira Pira (x3(x9)(Repeatable) : “Mooch? haha. No” (more info!)Notes: Just no… While these fish carry monetary value, fishing them up for EXP can be a pain.

Hundred Fin (x3) : Great if you’re level 58 – but you’re not (yet!) (more info!)Notes: Forget about this for now. While this becomes a pretty good fish a little later, don’t bother when opening up the 56 tier.

Brown Bolo (x2) : “Nope” (more info!)Notes: This fish is incredibly difficult to catch! Only on clouds, and has a terribly small bite chance! (You may have better luck than I…?)

IMPORTANT: WHEN I HIT FSH 56 (3.0) this tier was ‘bugged’ or badly designed. Pipira Pira and Hundred-Fin in particular CANNOT BE CAUGHT as a fresh 56… Please let me know if anything has changed via the Feedback Form since I cannot rewind time to be a non-60 FSH. SE dropped the ball on this and the 52 tier, IMO.

What I did in this tier (56):

THESE COLLECTIBLES SHOULD NOW GIVE OUT BLUE SCRIP!

Ignore the leves right now in this tier. They’re no value for the time spent. Most of them are locked behind Goblin Jig, which is a level 58 lure.

Your activities in this tier are vastly affected by what fish you get for collection.
ALWAYS attempt to catch ’em when the timeframe is up!

Warmwater Bichir: Fished up from Smoldering Wastes in Forelands (24,25). Not a bad place to grind. You can get Whilom Catfish here, and Blueclaw Shrimp which are staples of the old tier.

Noontide Oscar: Fished up from Eli Tohm in Churning Mists (35,25). You can fish up Cloudfish here too, which is a staple levequest fish. The problem? LAMP MARIMO. I don’t know how these guys got up here, but they’re here to do one thing: Reduce your average EXP per cast. IMO, this one is the worse of the two. If you got it, tough luck.

(recommended) During the down-time of your collectible fish:
just grind how you did in the previous tier.

Like I just mentioned, there’s not a whole lot you can do that’s unique to this tier. Just get on your “comfort” grind zones. This is where I used up my Commercial Fishing Manual. This is IMO the last chance to get value off these.

Regarding the 58 Quest fish: (HQ)Letter Puffer (more info) (from: Landlord Colony, Churning Mists) – I don’t think it’s value to farm this beforehand. While HQ Letter Puffer is easy to catch at 60, I suggest you get it over with as Aetherfishing is locked behind this quest. Or pick them up off the MB (In which case you’re worse than the worms you place on your hook, ‘fisher’).

TLDR; Leves suck in this tier. Grind for you 56+ Collectible when the timeframe is up, then do previous tier leveling techniques.

Yalm Lobsters (x2) : Not worth it pre-60, also a Mooch (more info!)Notes: Don’t try to be that guy that says “My road to 60 was harder than yours”. Don’t.

What I did in this tier (58):

There’s a TON of things to do once you hit 58 – Why? The almighty GOBLIN JIG gets unlocked for you. Your first order of business is to ACQUIREGOBLIN JIG. While you can get these off leves – I suggest sucking it up and buying a few from the MB!

If you’re expecting an epic uphill battle for the last stretch, I’m sorry to disappoint you. EVEN WITH ZERO RESTED EXP, I felt this tier was a breeze. However, the best way to get to 60 is split in half here…

Getting to 59: Check the links above for Bullwhip. As I mentioned, just farm these guys and turn in as many of them as you can. Remember to attempt Weston Bowfins when the timeframe is up! You should tele to Zenith a few minutes before 0800. Then back to Bullwhips!

Getting to 60: Get your butt to ILLUMINATI PERCH obliteration program. Equip your Goblin Jig and make your way up to Hinterlands. While they’re available at any time SUNRISE TO SUNSET seems to net the most IP. They still bite well during the ‘offpeak’. If you find it difficult, just go back to Bullwhips or Fountfish.

FIENDWORMS require Blue Scrip to get. So I hope you’ve farmed up a few. If not, just stick to Illuminati Perch and you’ll get to 60 anyway. The 50 Fiendworms you get off the quest might not last very long.

Fishing Level 60 and Beyond: FSH End-game?

If you’ve made it to this section – you deserve some congratulations!! You can unlock some new fishing holes (with questionable usefulness) once you’re 60 by “buying” the rights to use them via blue scrips.

HO BOY! That was a painful journey when I had zero rested EXP back in the day. I sure hope it went a lot more smoothly for you – and I hope my fishing leveling guide helped out! Good luck reaching FSH 60 and doing fishy activities! Like us on Facebook, message us on Twitter! Ciao!

Just wanted to say thank for this guide, I got to lvl 44 so for with little to no effort taking long breaks while following this guide. And this has only been a few days of nearly a week of fishing, and only using food for the exp boost, no other exp enchantment.

To clarify:
Went from 0-44 in just a few days with minor fishing, and no exp boost outside of food.

i leveled my fisher from 50 till 55 today and noticed that the best thing to do when you reached level 51 is going for the icepick collectible. I fished at unfrozen pond in Coerthas Wester Higlands. This is the place where you also find the collectible sorcerer fish and you can allready catch it when you are lvl51. The collectability has to have a minimum of 646 and it appears in the list of collectibles when you reach lvl52. I don’t know if it was luck or not, but when i reached level 52 i turned instant 53 with turning in the Sorcerer Fish. I used the action patience and powerful hookset to get a higher collectability. (sorry for my English, it’s not so good ^^)

To clarify: RED BALLOON has the highest catch-rate.. its the “best bait”, but yes balloon bug is the “Earliest bait”. Check the table above, I’ll clarify this in other instances of glacier core in the guide.

Alternative Grinding: Mogpom, fished from Greensward in Churning Mists – is a great fishing hole to grind on. Not only do mogpoms hold a bit of crafting material value, the fishing hole has 100% chance to catch this level 55 fish, meaning it’s a very stable choice for mindless grinding.

Problem is, Mogpom cannot be fished until lvl 58, as it needs a goblin jig or steel spinner jig to be caught.

I tried fishing Ceruleum Field last night with Chocobo Fly. 4 straight non-Grip Killifish, level 5 Rock whatevers. Moondrip is way better. Switched over and started catching nothing but Blindfish and Killifish. Ceruleum Field with Chocobo Fly is not best 27-30, Moondrip is.

I was confused about this too, but the farm spot is directly south of the Ceruleum Processing Plant crystal.
You’ll see a long chasm and some metal tubes, just cast the fishing rod there and it will work as instructed.
Every catch yielded over 3500xp and HQs about 10k. Went from 27 to 30 in a flash!

Guide is either out-of-date or the level 45 quest changes if you’ve (completed?) HW prior to leveling Fisher. Just hit 45 and I’m being sent to sky-fish for Cloud Cutters in Sea of Clouds. Hoping grind spots are up-to-date :)

I’m going through this atm and just want to point out, you say for the lvl 35 quest, Desert Catfish, that they can be caught from either of the Sagolii Desert sandfishing spots, but they can only be caught from the one on the east side.

Red Balloon is 53 – YOU’RE CORRECT! It’s also the BEST LURE for Glacier Core. However, Since you cannot equip it – use BALOON BUG in the meantime.

I’m sorry for the confusion, I specifically remembered the exact point in time wherein I asked myself as I was coding the table “Hmm.. which lure should I put for Glacier Core?” I ended up going with Red since it’s the BEST, and hoping people would click on the more info or figure out that Balloon Bug was the only other choice.

I’m rather new to FFXIV, having played on a month, or so. I’ve found all your gatherers’ guides particularly helpful. I started my Fisher only about a week ago and reached level-50 today. I did only a couple of levequests — I’ve also got a Culinarian and have set a personal goal of catching one HQ of everything. It still didn’t seem to take very long. I’m into the game more for gathering/crafting than fighting; so, slow leveling is okay with me.

One comment per the Level-50 Class Quest: I found it rather simple; I caught three HQ Mazlaya Marlins and two NQ ones in about 30 minutes. Yes, “Hello Marketboard” for a nice profit on my extra Marlins, and I shall return often.

I noticed there was no grinding spot for 30-35. I’ve been doing The Juggernaut fishing hole in 17.31 Eastern La Noscea.
With a chocobo fly I get about 90% Grip Killifish which are about 3k exp per fish (I do have rested xp atm though)

So I am currently in the 40-45 fishing range. Based on primarily grinding from 35 to my current level of 43, I would say sticking with the Nail until 45 is probably better than moving to the Burning Wall. The rate at which I am catching the three choices of level 40 fish is pretty low with the mix of the salmon and boneytongue, it seems quite a bit slower.

I think the more steady higher exp (compared to salmon and boneytongue at the wall) catches at the Nail make it faster.

So I noticed that you suggest Cape Westwind for level 30 to 35 leveling. What I also noticed when I got there is that the enemies are kevel 48, and thus not affected by Stealth until level 38. Is there a better place to level for those 5? Love your guide by the way!

I’m sorry, but please use the full name on the locations and please use cordinates, it takes forever to figure out were you accually mean.. If you allready are taking the time to make this guide, why be so lasy as to use shortened words.. Not trying to be rude, just telling you that this guide is a pain in the behind to use.

Saying “not trying to be rude” doesn’t make it not rude… Calling a person who voluntarily made a nicely-written guide “lazy” isn’t really nice.. I’ve only started playing the game recently and it doesn’t really take long on finding these locations. You get move your lazy bum and look for these yourself! :)

It’s a far cry from laziness. A lazy person cannot create this entire site by themselves. Which I am doing. I realize the site is not perfect, and neither is this guide. I cannot explain all choices I made but I’ll make an exception for this…

Coordinates are a great idea, I definitely want to do this! And I appreciate your reminder. I simply cannot backtrack this guide at this time… the FSH leveling guide has great info (IMO), and is definitely usable at this point… I’m sorry if the coords aren’t listed and this is very much a great addition in the near future.

I used the shortened location names for many reasons. the primary one? SPACE. Especially in the tables. These abbreviations are commonly used in many FFXIV related communications, within and without Eorzea… It would be beneficial to you to learn them! But as I said earlier it’s primarily a SPACE issue… it may not seem like a big deal but trust me it is…

FSH Guide in general is a pain in the ass even to write… I mean.. the uniqueness of the class and the personalities of people trying to level fishing are wildly varied! As wildly varied as the ways and methods and goals of those attempting to max the class. I’m just here trying my best to even give a sliver of a guideline to those who may seek it. I appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

I noticed that you put the level 40 fishing hole Burning Wall, which requires Gulleye II, as a recommended grinding spot for level 26-30. Is there a good fishing hole for grinding that is actually possible for this level range? Love your guide!

i was just there lvling my fisher i dont think i went there at 23 i belive it was 25 i went there i had no problem fishing there where misses and eventualy one stole my spoon but i did lvl there to 27 before moving off to Ceruleum Field the only gear i had on was from fishing guild quest rewards no extras or special bennys through the free company

One other note I had some trouble finding vendors that sell the needed lure or bait for the different areas. I think adding a vendor location for the different baits needed as your lvling would be a good thing to include in your guide.

I’m sorry, but this is somewhat used quite commonly in my server – i apologize. If you haven’t discovered by context… “NSH” would be North SHroud, WLN is Western La Noscea… ETH is Eastern Thanalan. Hopefully that helps!

Loved the guide ty for your time and effort to putting this together. I just want to throw in here that I got my mazlaya marlin at 32x 25y e. LA noscea with a rattail it’s 100% harbor herring the rest is rngesus I got mine on second cast :-D

“Where to find Shadow Catfish? Using low level bait Moth Pupa, you can mooch a Striped Goby(HQ) to get your Shadow Catfish rather easily! You cannot pre-emptively finish your L25 Class Quest since you need to mooch – which is a skill you gain at 25.”

Here’s an alternative for Boltfish…instead of using just about anything else, you can use honeyworm to catch about 3 times as many Silverfish…GREATLY increases your odds of getting an HQ quicker and mooching.

Would it actually hurt to be constructive and polite? OP writes a guide–If it’s not up to your personal standards, or if you don’t feel like properly reading, move the hell on. Do you actually need to be a prat about it? Thank you goes a long way. Constructive criticism goes a long way. Being an entitled sounding asshat only makes people not want to help, advise or otherwise be kind to you.